I Don't See You
by Griffin Stone
Summary: After an accident with an old Galra trap, Pidge is blinded. While coming to terms that her condition might be permanent, Pidge struggles to perform her duties as Green Paladin and with her own doubts.
1. The Abandoned Post

**A/N: It's time for a Pidge fanfic! As with my other ficlets, the length of time between chapters is affected by how much I can get done in my main work. If I can keep up with my chapters in that, then chapters for this should come fairly fast. Besides, this fic is shorter, so it should be done within a couple weeks.**

 **As with the other Voltron ficlets, this takes place at some point in season one.**

 **I don't own Voltron.**

* * *

"Still no sign of Galra," Pidge reported to Shiro, who stood behind the pilot seat.

"Maybe it really is empty," Shiro murmured.

The Green Lion was currently hunched in the lush foliage of a planet the team had stumbled upon. They had picked up old radio signals signifying that some sort of communication devices was below. Further investigation had revealed a Galran outpost that was, to all appearances, abandoned. BLIP tech had found no signs of life, even natives, but the team had proceeded with caution. Pidge had gone to check out the tech, with Shiro's company since his hand could access it. They had taken Green in cloaking mode as an extra precaution, then hidden to observe.

"It's been a varga," Pidge finally said. "Do you think it is safe yet?"

Shiro narrowed his eyes at the grown-over brush around the post and the ivy growing half-way up the door. "Should be. We might be the first ones here in a long time."

"Hope the tech is still working," Pidge said as she stood.

Shiro chuckled fondly. "Whatever shape it might be in, I trust you would be able to fix it."

Pidge grinned and left Green with Shiro close behind. They slowly walked closer to the building, tense in case anything is ready to leap out at them, but saw nothing.

Pidge leaned down to inspect the door. "Pretty rusty. If the Galra are still here, they haven't bothered with maintaining the place."

"I'll open it up," Shiro said, reach out to press his Galra hand against the touch pad.

 _Crash!_

Shiro jumps as the door falls inward to the floor with an echoing crash, revealing an empty hall coated in dust. He glanced at Pidge, who still has her hand out that she had pressed against the door.

"So much for the element of surprise," Shiro said.

Pidge shrugged sheepishly, then Allura's voice came over the coms.

"Shiro, Pidge, what was that sound?"

"Just the door," Shiro told her. "Pidge knocked it off its hinges."

A snort came from the coms. Shiro knew what Lance was going to say even before he said it.

"Don't know your own strength, huh?"

Pidge growled and stormed down the hallway, muttering dark promises.

"Uh, Pidge?" Lance said. "Pidge, are you there?"

Shiro cocked his head. "Pidge, did you turn off your coms?"

Pidge paused and turned. "No, why?"

Shiro hummed in thought. He took a couple of steps inside and said, "Lance? Allura?" No response, so he backed out of the building. There was a crackle, then Keith's voice.

"Shiro, answer us!"

"It's okay," Shiro said, and he heard multiple sighs of relief. "Something in the building must be blocking our transmissions."

"Strange," said Coran. "We still receive your signals, but we can't hear you?"

"And vice versa." Shiro shrugged. "Guess it's radio silence for now."

"That sounds like a bad idea," Keith said tersely.

"I agree with the mullet," Lance said, apparently ignoring the growl as he went on, "If something happens, you couldn't contact us."

"I'm pretty sure this place is empty," Shiro assured those back at the Castle. "And it's small, so we will be right back."

"Just be careful," Allura said.

"Of course, Princess," Shiro said before joining the impatient Pidge in the hallway.

"I already checked these rooms," Pidge said, pointing to the four open doors along the hall. "They are all empty. There's one more room at the end."

"Let's check it out, then," Shiro said, letting Pidge take the lead.

Pidge reached the last door and tugged on it, but it didn't budge. She frowned, then pulled harder. When she had the same results, she grunted and kicked the door.

"Need a hand?" Shiro offered, holding up his Galra hand.

"Okay, _Lance_."

Shiro chuckled and pressed his hand against the pad beside the door. There was a screech as the door slowly slid open, getting stuck halfway open.

However, that was enough for Pidge. She scampered through, then a happy cry came from inside. Shiro slid in, and found Pidge already seated on the floor with her laptop on her lap. She plugged in a few cords, then tipped her head back.

"I'm ready to go," Pidge said.

Shiro nodded and carefully made his way across the cords and broken tech to stand in front of the large computer monitor. He powered up his hand and laid it on the console. It lit up, then Pidge started clicking away on her computer.

"Okay, just a few more ticks… and, I'm good."

Shiro pulled back his hand and went to crouch at Pidge's side. Some sort of blueprints were scrolling across her screen. Pidge scanned through it, then gave a hum.

"I found the power source now. I wonder if this old place has any juice left." Pidge stood and went to tinker under a desk, where there was something similar to an Earth computer tower. "I'll have this place up and running in just a few minutes. Want to let the others know, and they can come join us?"

"Okay."

Shiro turned and started to make his way down the hall. Halfway, he heard a muffled exclamation from Pidge.

Shiro paused. "Pidge?"

There was a clattering, then Pidge yelled, "It's booby-trapped!"

Shiro broke into a sprint, back toward the room. "Get out of there, then!"

"Hold on, I think I-"

Shiro reached the doorway, just as there was a bright flash of light and a scream from inside.


	2. Minimal Damage

"This was a bad idea," Keith grumbled.

Lance rolled his eyes. "So you've said, like, a bazillion times. Calm down, Keith. They're fine."

No one else shared Keith's concerns. Coran was busy at his console with Hunk, and Allura was working on a holographic screen in front of her. Lance was sitting with his feet crossed and laying on his console.

Keith sighed and turned his eyes to the large holographic screen in the front of the bridge, where he could see a black dot and a green dot in a blank, rectangular space. Because of the interference, the tracking for Shiro and Pidge were a bit slow, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Pidge's dot moved to one side of what represented the room, then Shiro's began to move away.

"I think Shiro is coming out," Keith said, prompting the others to look up.

Halfway to the door, though, the black dot paused.

"What happened? Did it freeze?" Keith asked, still unable to shake his uncertainties.

"I'm not sure." Coran moved to the front of the console, but then the black dot started moving back towards the green one. "Ah, false alarm."

Keith squinted. Was it his imagination, or had Pidge's dot jumped back and blurred a bit? The black dot reached it, and both blended together to start heading out.

Lance plopped his feet back to the floor and stood as the dots exited the building. "Well, here they come."

The team waiting for Shiro or Pidge to tell them what they had found, but both dots went silently to the large green shape waiting nearby.

"Hm, must not have been-" Coran started.

At the same time, a new screen popped up right beside the dot tracking screen. Shiro was in the center, and he shouted as soon as he appeared.

"Coran!"

Shiro's shout startled the advisor so badly that he leaped clear over his console. He landed with stiff legs and his back slightly arched like a startled cat.

After a second, though, Coran straightened. He tugged on his vest as he regained his composure, only to jump to the side when Hunk yelled from right beside him.

"Shiro, why are you piloting Green?!"

Keith and Lance, who had been watching Coran with amusement, quickly turned their heads back to the screen.

"There was a trap," Shiro said tersely. He glanced down and to the side, presumably where Pidge was. "Pidge was able to contain most of it, but she was right in front of it. I can't find any major injuries, but she is unconscious."

"I'll prepare a pod, just in case," Coran said, rushing out of the room.

"We'll meet you in the hanger," Keith said before running out, Lance, Hunk, and Allura close behind.

The four arrived in the hanger moments after Green had landed. As they entered, Green lowered her head and opened her mouth.

Shiro walked hurriedly down the ramp, gently cradling Pidge in his arms. He was missing the glove on his flesh hand. He seemed to be speaking to her, and everyone sighed in relief when they were a responding murmur.

The team rushed over, and Shiro stood still so they could check on Pidge for themselves.

Aside from the dust on her armor, the only signs of the explosion was on the helmet. The visor was shattered, and soot blackened the front. Of Pidge, they could only see her sooty chin, as the rest of her face was hidden under Shiro's missing glove.

"How is she?" Hunk asked.

"'She' is fine," Pidge answered for herself. "Honestly, Shiro, I can walk."

"Not with your eyes closed," Shiro said, never loosening his hold. He noticed the others' surprised faces and explained, "Some of the glass from her visor cut her face and eyelids. I don't want her eyes exposed to light before we know the extent of the damage."

"Thus, the glove," Pidge said, lifting a hand to point down at herself.

Shiro nodded, then nudged his way past the others. "I'm taking her to the infirmary, and Coran can check her eyes."

"Onward, valiant steed!" Pidge exclaimed, pointing forward.

As Shiro left, Keith leaned closer to Hunk. "Is it just me, or was Pidge acting strange?"

"Nerves," Hunk said with a worried frown.

"Huh?"

Lance clasped his hands in front of his face with an exaggerated sigh. "You see, Keith, normal people resort to jokes when hiding their true feelings."

Keith smirked. "Well, that explains a lot."

Lance nodded as Keith left. A second later, he frowned and ran after Keith.

"Now just a second-" Lance yelled.

Hunk and Allura traded shrugs before following.

* * *

Once in the infirmary, Shiro laid Pidge on one of the beds. After making sure Pidge had her eyes closed, Shiro removed the glove, giving the team their first look at her face.

Her face was black with soot, excepting where sweat -and maybe a few tears- had streaked down her face, leaving dark gray lines. Tiny cuts dotted her face, and the area around her eyelids were slightly swollen.

Hunk made a sound like a saddened puppy, but Coran covered it up with a clicking of his tongue. Using a damp rag, Coran wiped Pidge's face clean.

"You certainly did a number, number five," Coran said. He leaned closer. "But, it appears none of the glass remains, so that's a cheerful note."

"It is?" Keith asked.

"Yes. If there was any still in her skin, we would have had to remove it before she went into a pod, or else the skin would have healed with the glass still inside," Coran answered.

Pidge grimaced. "Lovely picture, Coran."

"Can we put her in a pod now?" Shiro asked.

"Won't do her any harm," Coran said. "I don't see anything too bad, so you'll be out by day's end, Pidge."

"Good. That glass did a number on my eyelids, and I don't feel like blinking right now," Pidge said without opening her eyes.

Shiro relaxed a bit from relief, then turned to Allura. "Princess, can you get us out of here before the Galra come to check how their trap worked."

"No need, Shiro," Pidge put in. "The booby-trap was old and sloppy. Probably put in place because whoever was at the post was in too much of a rush, or too lazy, to clean everything up, and figured the trap would get rid of any evidence. It worked, unfortunately." Pidge frowned. "I'm not sure if the tech is salvageable."

"Well, we aren't going back to check."

"But, Shiro," Pidge protested with a whine.

"No buts. Let's get you into a pod."

Pidge kept a pout on her face as Allura helped her out of her armor and when Shiro carried her to a pod.

"Your face will freeze that way," Lance said when Pidge insisted on continuing her pout in the pod.

Pidge snorted, but returned her face to neutral as Coran closed up the pod.

"It will just be a few vargas," Coran said, tapping at some buttons on the side of the pod.

"I had better move the Castle, just in case Galra are hanging around," Allura said as she turned to leave.

"I'll come with you!" Lance offered, trotting after her.

"I will be making some final scans on the bridge of the planet before we leave," Coran said as he trailed the pair.

For a moment, Shiro, Keith, and Hunk stood silently in front of the pod.

"I'll stay with her," Shiro said, sitting on the steps in front of the pod.

Keith turned to leave. "I'll be on the training deck. Call me when she wakes up."

"I'll go to the kitchen and whip up something for when she wakes up," Hunk said.

Shiro nodded and watched as the pair went to their respective de-stressing activities. He leaned back and turned to watch Pidge standing silent and still in the pod.

* * *

Three hours later, the team was gathered around Pidge's pod. Hunk was happily holding a plate of cupcake-like concoctions that he had decorated like a robotic lion head.

"Should we turn down the lights?" Lance suggested. "If her eyes were injured, will they still be sensitive when she comes out?"

"It's possible, for a short bit at least," Shiro said.

Lance ran over to the wall beside the door, then hesitated. "Where's the light switch?"

Coran responded by holding up a remote and pressing a button, causing the lights to dim to a third of their brightness.

"We've been here for how long, and you still didn't know that?" Keith asked critically.

"Can I help it if this Castle has _all_ of its lights on, _all_ the time? How did Alteans pay their electricity bill?"

"Some of the electricity actually comes from solar power," Coran supplied. "Under preferred circumstances, all lighting is solar powered."

"How do you get that much solar power?"

"There was a system near Arus, the Linander System, that had ten suns for each planet. Hard to live there, I assure you, but it took only a varga to get the Caslte fully charged."

Keith sighed and pressed a hand to his face. "Must we always get into these ridiculous conversations in front of the pods?"

A low hiss ended further conversation. Everyone turned eagerly as the cover of the pod disappeared. Pidge twitched, and her frame wobbled before Shiro put out a hand to steady her.

"Hey," Pidge said without opening her eyes.

"Hey." Shiro gently guided Pidge from the pod. "How do you feel?"

Pidge's eyes slowly opened. "Fine." She opened her eyes, and frowned. Her eyes acted unfocused, wandering around before settling on Shiro's shoulder.

"Are you sure you are fine?" Shiro asked again.

"Yeah," Pidge said. She squinted toward Shiro's other shoulder.

"We were worried about your eyes' sensitivity, so we turned the lights down," Coran said in answer as he turned the lights back to normal brightness.

"Oh. Well, they feel fine now, you can turn the lights on."

Shiro sucked in a deep breath. Coran looked up, distracted, accidentally cranking up the lights to blinding. Everyone winced and shielded their eyes.

Everyone, that is, except for Pidge. Her gaze remained straight ahead, eyes wide.

"Pidge?" Shiro asked as Coran hurriedly put the lights to a reasonable brightness.

Pidge turned her head. Shiro was alarmed to see her pupils were narrow slits, thinner than anything Shiro had ever seen.

"Really, I'm fine," Pidge said. "Can you turn the lights back on?"

This time, everyone realized what Pidge was saying. They traded startled looks. Hunk blinked hard, as if he was imagining the lights on.

"The lights are on," Keith said with his usual subtly.

A smile quirked Pidge's lips, but everyone could see the nervous clench of her brows. "Uh, no, Keith. They aren't." She turned her head to the ceiling, but her eyes didn't respond to the light.

"Pidge." Shiro put an arm on the girl's shoulder, but she jerked away.

"This isn't funny, you guys," Pidge said, voice starting to crack. "Turn on the lights, or I'm gonna shock each of you with my bayard."

"It… it isn't a joke," Hunk said.

Pidge's head turned in Hunk's direction, and the team could see the hope drain from her body. Hunk would be the first one to give up a joke. If he said it was true….

"No, no." Pidge shook her head. "This isn't right. Shiro? Shiro!"

Shiro gripped Pidge's shoulders before she could move. "I'm right here, Pidge. Talk to me."

"I… I don't see you." Tears welled up in Pidge's eyes. "I don't see anything. Shiro!"

Shiro pulled Pidge to him, tucking her face to his chest. "Sh, it's okay. We'll figure it out."

"Shiro!" Pidge screamed, as he hugged her tighter. "I'm blind, Shiro! I'm blind!"


	3. Testing Limits

**Belated and in advance apologies for Lance in this story. I'm having a hard time channeling him.**

* * *

Pidge sat silently in her room. Every light was on, but Pidge could only tell when she turned her face toward where she knew the lights to be and felt a slight warmth.

The others had been keeping her company, but Pidge had tired of their worried hovering and sent them away. After her initial panic where all she could do was clutch Shiro's shirt and cry, she now needed peace and solitude. She needed to think.

There was no telling if her blindness was permanent or would fade with time. Shiro seemed to think the latter, but his constant stating of his opinion just made him sound desperate instead of hopeful. Everyone had agreed with Shiro, but with the same effect.

Before she had sent everyone away, Coran had deduced that the blindness had come from the flash of light, rather than the debris of the explosion. Something in her eyes had been strained or damaged in a way that the healing pod apparently was unable to repair. Since, according to Allura, blindness wasn't an ailment that affected Altaens, Pidge was inclined to believe that the pods simply didn't see her blindness as something to be repaired.

After an hour of silence, nothing had changed aside from the headache Pidge was getting from squinting.

Stifling a sigh, Pidge reached for the glass of water Hunk said he had left beside her bed, only to feel the side of her hand bump the glass and tip it over.

For a moment, Pidge listened to the water dripping to the floor. At least Shiro had insisted on moving all her stuff from table, or that could have really been a mess.

Pidge shrugged. " _Might as well get up, since I don't think Hunk left any more water in here."_

Pidge picked up the empty glass, slid out of her blanket, and stood. Navigating the organized chaos of her room was an easy feat, as she had often done this half-asleep. Still, she was quite proud of herself for reaching the door and having only tipped over one bowl of screws, which she was pretty sure Lance had been moving around when the others were with her.

Pidge opened the door to a scuffling of feet.

"Yes?" she asked, staring in the direction she had heard movement.

"We didn't hear you get up," said Shiro, from slightly left of where Pidge was looking.

Pidge readjusted her gaze. "Why were you listening?"

"Do you need anything?" Hunk asked, from the left of Shiro.

Pidge cocked her head. "Who's here?"

An awkward silence followed, then Lance said from his place to the right of the door, "Everyone."

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Everyone chorused off "no"s. Though Keith's was more of a grunt.

"Look, I'm _fine_ ," Pidge emphasized. "I'm blind, not helpless."

"She has a point," Keith muttered.

Everyone turned to Keith. All glared, with the exception of Pidge, who beamed that someone was on her side.

"No. Until Pidge's eyesight comes back, she can't be left alone."

"Too bad there aren't seeing eye dogs in space," Lance mused.

"Seeing eye dogs?" Allura repeated.

"Yeah, they are trained to lead blind people around, get stuff for them, that sort of thing."

"Gee, Lance, just get me some dark sunglasses and a white stick while you're at it," Pidge snipped.

"I'm pretty sure I could find you a stick, if that would help," Coran offered.

"And sunglasses would be easy to make," Hunk said.

Pidge groaned and facepalmed. She thrust out her other hand to point. "All of you, just go!"

"Pidge, you're pointing at the wall."

Pidge swiveled in the direction of Lance's voice, accidentally -though not too upset- hitting the boy in the face.

"Hey!"

"Let that be a warning, I want all of you to go back to your normal things, and I will go to mine."

Keith shrugged and started to turn, but no one else moved. He froze, uncertain of whether or not he should actually leave.

Pidge glared at the team as well as she could without being able to see them. After a few minutes, Shiro spoke up.

"You all go on."

Pidge sighed. "Thank you."

Just as Shiro finished, "I'll stay with her."

Pidge was pretty sure her protesting "No!" was heard outside the Castle.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Pidge was back in bed, arms crossed. Her blind eyes tracked the shuffling that Shiro made as he attempted to clean up Pidge's room.

"You're messing it up," Pidge said moodily. "I knew exactly where everything was, but now I _am_ going to trip over everything."

"You tripped when you came back in. Twice."

"Because you had a death grip on my arm! Honestly, how am I supposed to dodge around my computer when I can't moved side to side?"

"You could have it on the desk."

Shiro was starting to sound tense, but Pidge went on, "Well, I was planning on working with it tonight. It's not like I _planned_ to have a Galra trap blow up in my face."

Shiro inhaled sharply, finally causing Pidge to pause.

"Shiro?"

A moment passed, then Shiro sat on the edge of the bed. He slowly said, "You could have been hurt so much worse."

"Eh, it was a sloppy job. If I hadn't gotten startled by it in the first place, it wouldn't have even-"

"Pidge, you could have died."

Pidge cocked her head. "Is that what you are so upset about? Shiro, we all could die any time we go on a mission. It's like a fact of life for us now."

"You're fifteen, Katie," Shiro said, making Pidge suck in sharply. Shiro had to be really worried if he was calling her by her actual name. "You should be thinking about boys and makeup, not saving the universe."

Pidge couldn't help but snort. "Boys and makeup? When did I ever worry about those?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah…," Pidge sighed, wondering if she was about to make a bad decision. "Okay, if it will make you feel better, I will take it easy until my sight returns. I won't go anywhere without telling you, and Lance can be my seeing eye dog."

"Good," Shiro said, sounding pleased.

Pidge just forced a smile. She was already regretting this.

* * *

The first couple of days actually wasn't so bad. It wasn't often that Pidge got to do absolutely nothing, and have the others entertain her.

Shiro, Lance, and Hunk kept an eye on her in shifts. Sometimes Coran or Allura helped out, but their lack of realization that Pidge literally could not see a single thing meant that she had more leeway with them, meaning she could convince them to let her do more normal things. However, after Shiro found Coran helping Pidge do tune-ups for Green, he banned the Alteans from "Pidge duty." Keith was almost completely unseen -or unheard. Anytime he was around when Pidge showed up, he mumbled some excuse and left. It made Pidge curious, but she had other things to worry about.

Whenever Shiro watched Pidge, he refused to even let her out of bed, constantly asked if there was anything she needed, and made her take naps. Naps. Pidge wanted to scream when Shiro's shift began, but she had to admit that his stories of his times at the Garrison were downright hilarious. So, she held in her frustration and let him fuss.

Hunk was slightly better, even if he felt the need to hold her hand when she went anywhere. Their most common hangout was the kitchen, where Pidge was allowed to help cook as long as she didn't go near anything hot or sharp.

Despite her misgivings, Lance was Pidge's favorite. At least he let her walk by herself, only giving the occasional nudge if she drifted towards a wall. He also sometimes would sneak her onto the bridge when Shiro wasn't around, or take her to one of the Castle's almost endless recreational rooms. There was only so much Pidge could do blindly in an almost badminton court, but hey, at least it was something.

After a week, though, the novelty wore off. Especially since Pidge's eyesight never improved, which made the others worry. Shiro talked less, Hunk openly fretted, and Lance became less adventurous in their escapades.

After a week and a half, Hunk and Lance was taking after Shiro and secluding Pidge to her room, as if that could give her sight back.

It was time for Pidge to take matters into her own hands.

* * *

Pidge waited until an evening that Hunk was keeping her company. She pretended she was tired and just wanting to sit. Hunk, who had lost more than a little bit of sleep while he worried, was more than willing to comply.

Within half an hour, Hunk was snoring.

Pidge grinned as she silently slid out of bed onto her long-cleaned floor. She crept over to Hunk and laid the blanket across him before making her way out of her room.

There, she found herself with a new dilemma. Navigating her room was one thing, wandering the halls of the Castle was a whole different experience. Pidge thought that she could remember the Castle layout, but she suddenly found herself unable to remember if it was two right turns or two lefts then a right, to get to the bridge.

"Great," Pidge muttered as she felt along that wall that was supposed to have been a door. "Where's Shiro worrying over me when I actually need him?" she shook her head. "Nope, don't think like that. You wanted to prove to everyone that you knew what you were doing, so do it." She thought for a second, then added, "Of course, if anyone comes along now and sees me talking to the wall, they won't leave me unsupervised even when I can see again.

With that thought in mind, Pidge turned andset off again. She trailed her right hand against the wall, as she thought that the reason she had gotten lost the first time was that she had passed a turn. However, she found herself going down a long, straight hall with no doors or turns for some time. When she did finally reach a door, she decided she didn't have anything to lose.

When Pidge opened the door, she heard grunts and crashes, in a addition to a mechanical hum and thumping of metallic feet.

" _Either I'm in the training room,"_ Pidge thought, " _or Galra took over the Castle. Since I doubt it's the second…"_

Pidge opened her mouth to call out to whoever was training, just as there was a harsh _thwack_. Someone gave an excited grunt, which quickly turned startled.

"Pidge, look out!" Keith shouted.

Pidge instinctively raised her hand and started to duck, just as something hit her full-force in the stomach.


	4. Not Helpless

**A/N: Keith's OOC, Shiro's OOC, everyone's OOC! Sorry this chapter took so long. I realized that I was behind in my main work, and I'm trying to get another story going for my Paw Patrol readers. On top of that, pretty much everyone in this chapter doesn't seem to be acting right.**

 **Regardless, I still had fun with this one.**

* * *

For a second, Keith could only stare at Pidge as she dropped to the floor. He had been training too intensely to notice her come in. Last he knew, Pidge wasn't even being let out of her room!

He finally shook off his shock and ran to Pidge's side, kicking away the metal staff that had hit her. The staff clattered over to the collapsed Gladiator, which sunk into the floor.

"Pidge, are you okay?" Keith asked as he knelt at the green paladin's side.

Hands pressed against her stomach, Pidge lifted her head. Keith turned his head away, still having a hard time with the way her eyes blankly wandered in search of his voice.

"I'm fine," Pidge said. "Sorry. I should have said something."

Keith ran a hand through his hair. "I should have seen you, or at least kept an eye on the door."

Pidge sat up. "Well, no harm done."

"Yeah, but if Shiro finds out…." Keith's eyes widened. "Ah, quiznak, he'll kill me."

Pidge snickered. "I would disagree, but Shiro has been a little overprotective of me right now."

"And for good reason," Keith argued. "What if I had been a real enemy?"

Pidge pursed her lips. "You're right."

Keith shook his head. "What are you even doing out here by yourself? I thought Shiro didn't want you to do that."

"How would you know? It's not like you're ever around anymore."

Keith winced. He glanced at Pidge's face, but her blank gaze unnerved him. "They can watch you better than I can."

Scowling, Pidge stood. "I don't need someone to take care of me. I can take care of myself."

"Right. And that is why you got hit in the stomach."

"Keith, look at me."

Keith started. "What?"

"I can tell you have your head turned away." Pidge tapped her ears. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Tell, or else Shiro finds out what you did."

"Hey, that was an accident." Still, Keith didn't want to risk Shiro being mad, and finally met Pidge's eyes. "It's your eyes."

Pidge blinked. "My… eyes?"

"Yes." Keith averted his eyes. "Your pupils are slits and you never… really… look at anything."

"Because I can't."

"Still, it's strange."

Pidge snorted. "I'm still the same, even if I can't focus on you."

"I know, it's silly."

Pidge closed her eyes. "Better?"

Keith scuffed a foot. "You don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do, because I need your help, and it won't work if you can't look at me."

"You need… my help?"

"I want you to teach me to fight, without my eyes."

Keith stared at Pidge. "Are you sure that staff didn't hit you in the head? Why would you need to know that?"

"You were right when you asked what would have happened if you had been an enemy. If the Galra were to attack now, I would be defenseless and Voltron would be without the Green Lion. I need to learn how to fight blind."

"Why are you asking me, though? Surely the others..."

"They won't even let me out of bed. I had to sneak past Hunk to get here. You're the only one who will help me."

Keith hefted his paladin sword as he thought. Pidge brought up a good point, one that had been nagging him since Pidge woke up. Whether or not the others liked it, Pidge did need to become self-dependent in case… her blindness became permanent.

"We can try," Keith said. "How long before anyone realizes you are missing?"

"Unless Hunk wakes up or someone else checks in, two hours."

Keith chuckled as he shook his head. "Alright, let's do this."

Shiro was definitely going to kill him.

* * *

An hour later, Shiro was walking down the halls to check on Pidge. He paused at the training room's door, figuring Keith would be inside training.

It had been a couple days since Shiro had talked to Keith; he was so busy with Pidge, the opportunity hadn't come up. He decided to check in with the boy.

Shiro opened the door to silence, and briefly wondered if Keith might actually be someplace else before seeing the two teenagers inside.

Pidge was standing, tensed, in the center of the room. Keith was making a wide circle around her, paladin sword out and readied.

In Shiro's moment of shock, Keith glanced toward the door and froze. A vague expression of guilt crossed his face, but then his eyes turned to Pidge and he _smiled._

That was the last straw. Shiro stormed into the room. His mouth opened as he drew close to Pidge, ready to scold Keith, whose grin only grew.

Shiro couldn't totally be sure on what happened next. All he knew, Pidge abruptly turned and something smashed into his chest, knocking the air from his lungs and causing him to collapse to the ground.

Pidge tipped her head down. Shiro noticed vaguely through his pain that her eyes were closed. "Really, I thought you were being quieter. I heard you way back."

Keith couldn't hold it in any longer. A loud laugh burst out of his lips, making Pidge turn and frown. This only made him laugh harder, until he had to kneel, he was so out of breath.

"Who's that?" Pidge demanded. She lifted a green and silver staff Shiro hadn't noticed, pointing it in Keith's direction. "Keith, who else came in?"

Shiro finally sucked in a pained breath. "Pidge."

Pidge jumped, and she dropped to her knees. Her hands felt clumsily around his shoulders, until Shiro caught hold of them and pushed them away.

"What happened?" Shiro asked, sitting up.

"Pidge got you _good_!" Keith exclaimed through his giggles. Despite his appearance, Keith was mortified about being found out, but nerves were making him slightly hysterical. It was an unfamiliar response, and unwanted, as Shiro leveled him a glare twice as fierce as the one he had given Keith when he first entered.

"Pidge, come with me," Shiro said as he and Pidge stood.

Seeing Pidge's upset expression, Keith blurted out what they had been practising for the last hour. "TL!"

Shiro glanced at Keith, just as spun away from Shiro's hand to the left. Shiro, his attention drawn once again to Pidge, reached for her shoulder again.

"Two SB," Keith said, and Pidge took two steps backward.

"What?" Shiro stepped toward Pidge, only for Keith to give another strange command and Pidge to sidestep. "What are you doing?"

Pidge clasped her staff in both hands. "I'm not going to just sit in my room like an invalid."

"You aren't an invalid," Shiro said with a sigh.

He stepped forward, only to set off another round of evaded grabs. Pidge even threw in a couple of smacks to Shiro's back, much to his lack of amusement. As Shiro grew more frustrated, his luck worsened even more, with Pidge tripping him.

Finally, with a growl, Shiro turned and lunged for the one giving commands.

Keith scrambled out of reach, saying, "Counterattack!"

Immediately, Pidge switched to the offensive. She ran over to Keith -into him, actually, but Keith caught and steadied her- and let Keith turn her in Shiro's direction. Shiro paused, uncertain of what was about to happen. He didn't have to wait long.

"Charge!" Keith cried. He ran forward, deciding it was all or nothing.

Pidge hesitated, they hadn't done this in practise, but eagerly joined Keith a moment later.

"Keith!"

Shiro grabbed the older teen by the shoulders to hold him back, but couldn't dodge when Pidge run under -per another command from Keith- Shiro's arm and hit his stomach. He was startled on the impact, but wasted no time in wrapping her arms around Shiro. Off-balance by the attack and still trying to hold a squirming Keith, Shiro lost his footing. He fell to the ground, pulling both younger paladins with him.

Shiro tightened his grip on Keith, wrapping one arm around his middle, but when he reached for Pidge, she was gone. She had stood and backed up from Shiro, and now stood a few feet off. Her head was cocked and her body tensed as she waited for another command.

Keith opened his mouth to tell Pidge what to do next, only to have Shiro's hand clamp over it. He turned his head to give Shiro an annoyed glare.

Shiro, however, had moved his attention back to Pidge. She still hadn't moved, just held that waiting pose.

Then, with startling swiftness, Pidge gripped her staff more firmly and swung low, connecting with Shiro's upper arm. Shiro yelped and jerked, freeing Keith's mouth.

"Straight down, from above," Keith called, improvising quite a bit.

Luckily, Pidge caught on. She swung her staff up, then down… right on Shiro's metallic arm.

For a moment, no one moved.

"Well, that was effective," Keith finally said.

Shiro's flesh hand whipped up to snag Pidge's staff. Feeling this, Pidge tried to pull away, but Shiro's grip was firm. While Pidge wrestled for control of her staff, Shiro slowly sat up without releasing Keith.

"What has all this been about?" Shiro asked.

"Proving I can… do stuff," Pidge puffed between jerks.

"Nobody said you couldn't."

Pidge paused in her attempts to scowl at Shiro. "Sitting in my room isn't doing stuff."

"It's just until your eyes get better."

Pidge gave a strange growly shout, and finally managed to jerk her staff free. She planted it at her side, causing a metallic _clang_ that echoed throughout the room.

"Shiro, when are you going to admit that, maybe, my eyes won't get better?"

Shiro stiffened. Keith, who had been preparing to use Shiro's distraction to free himself, froze.

"What? No, they will."

Shiro let go of Keith -who was still too stunned to move- and stood to put his hands on Pidge's shoulder. She didn't try to stop him this time, only turning her clenched face in the direction of his voice.

"It's been almost two weeks, with no sign of improvement," Pidge said softly, resignedly. "Without human doctors -or, at least, some race close to human- I don't think this is just going to go away on its own."

"Pidge…"

Pidge shook her head and stepped back. She raised her staff. "The bayards take a shape suiting the paladin, right?"

Shiro blinked. Until then, he had assumed she was holding a training staff. But no. The staff held the same silver as the bayards, with glowing green lines patterning the sides.

"You made it sound like training to move and fight blind would just be a temporary thing," Keith said uncertainly, standing.

"Because if I had told you what I really thought, you would have sent me to my room," Pidge said. "But look at what we did in just one hour!"

"You might be right," Shiro said, causing startled looks in his direction. "About the training. Perhaps we should all have some basic form of how to fight blind. If someone was ever blinded in a fight, knowing how to fight without sight could be invaluable."

"So… you aren't mad?" Keith asked.

Shiro shook his head with a sigh. "No. You two went behind my back, but I guess that is what it took."

"And I can go back to my normal things?" Pidge asked.

"Yes. You'll still need to keep someone with you," Shiro raised a hand against Pidge's protests, then realized the action was pointless and talked on, "We'll give you more privacy, especially when we are in the rooms or lounge."

Pidge smiled and stepped forward to hug Shiro, having tracked him by his voice. "Thanks, Shiro."

"You'll see, Pidge," Shiro said, laying his hand on her head. "Your eyesight will return."

Pidge didn't respond, only leaned further into Shiro.

* * *

 **Command Glossary:**

 **T- Turn S- Step B- Back D- Duck/Down**

 **L- Left R- Right**

 **TS- Quick swivel**

 **Counterattack: Go to the speaker**


	5. New Ways to See

**A/N -Throws this chapter out. Runs away, screaming-**

 **Okay, this story isn't going the way I thought it would, so I turned it into Shiro/Pidge/Keith fluff. Also, drama as it's stated over and over that Pidge is _forever_ blind, even if no one but her will say so.**

 **Thanks to everyone sticking with me.**

* * *

Shiro was true to his word, allowing Pidge more freedom during the day. Lance and Hunk, after being told about the event in the training room, followed his lead and left Pidge to do her own thing more often.

Now that Keith had gotten over Pidge's wandering gaze -it helped that Pidge kept her eyes closed most of the time- he became her willing guide. When he was beside while they headed to their destination, he would tell her where they were and the surroundings, and Pidge started to form a map in her head of the Castle.

Pidge was also adapting. She learned that if she really listened, she could discern each of her teammates' footsteps from each other. She memorized the distances between her most common destinations, and was more willing to call for help if she got turned around.

Once he saw that Pidge was improving so much, Shiro began calling her in during training. Each of the paladins and Altaens practised with Pidge, learning the command abbreviations and often coming up with their own. In exchange, Pidge showed them her tricks for navigating while blind and told them how she used her ears to figure out who or what was around.

They were slowly adjusting to a fact that only Pidge dared voice: that her sight was well and truly… gone.

* * *

Two weeks after the incident in the training room, Pidge was packing up her backpack with supplies -given the longer time it took her to get around, Pidge was learning to carry her tools, water, and bayard with her at all times- when she heard Hunk's heavy footsteps approaching her room. She lifted her blank eyes to him as he entered, slightly startling him with her notice.

"Hey, Hunk," Pidge said.

"Hey. I… I made something for you…"

Pidge sat back, curious about why Hunk was so hesitant. She held out her hands. Hunk placed what he was carrying into her hands, and Pidge explored the goggle-like contraption Hunk had handed over.

The front was boxy, and had a little section that stuck up higher on the nosepiece. There was a tiny speaker of sorts on either side of the goggles, and a thick strap to go around the head, with a loop crossing over the top.

"What is it?"

"Put it on," Hunk said, still in that strange tone.

Shrugging, Pidge put on the contraption, instinctively closing her eyes as the goggles slid into place. "Okay, now what?"

Hunk reached down and flipped a switch on the side of the goggles. There was a low hum, and a tingling in Pidge's head.

"Huh, what should it-"

Pidge cut herself off with a sharp breath as, for the first time in three weeks, shapes formed in her mind.

She jolted to her feet, causing the image to blur. She didn't move, and the images steadied out.

"Are you seeing this?" Hunk asked.

Pidge couldn't answer. She could _see_! Sort of. There wasn't any colors, just white lines in the perpetual black she had adjusted to. They were blurry and basic, but that was Hunk's shape in front of her! She could "see" the doorframe and the table in the room. The contents of her room were fuzzy shapes, but discernible still.

"Hunk… you… how?" Pidge couldn't come up with a straight question.

"It uses echolocation. The speakers on the sides produce ultra-sonic sounds that bounce off objects, which return to and are translated into shapes by the receiver in the center. Neuro transmitters in the headgear sends the images into your mind," Hunk explained. "It can also connect to any of the intercom systems and Allura's earrings, so you will never be out of touch."

Pidge grinned. "So I'm a bat?"

Hunk chuckled a bit. "I did base the design on bats. It takes a second or two to calibrate, so it won't work so well when you're moving fast, but I figure… you know, better than nothing." Hunk's eyes widened at what he had just said. "I-I mean-"

Pidge waved the statement off. "Hunk, it's fine. I'm blind. I'm used to it by now. It's all you guys that aren't accepting that I'm blind."

"Not forever," Hunk said, even though Pidge hadn't said forever.

They both knew she was thinking it.

Pidge smiled at Hunk to reassure him. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's take my new eyes for a test run and show the others."

* * *

Pidge's new goggles -named the EVOR for Eyesight is Very Over-Rated by Lance- gave her even more freedom. Between the EVOR and her hearing, which she was fairly sure had improved since her blindness, she was almost limitless.

Almost.

"Pidge, watch where you're-" Lance immediately flushed at what he was saying a few days later, when Pidge ran into him in the halls.

Pidge only laughed. "Just trying to keep you on your toes, Lance. You have to listen closer to your surroundings."

"Listen?"

"Yeah. Not everything has to be noticed by sight. Sound, scent, touch, use more of your senses," Pidge advised, adjusting her EVOR in the same manner she used to fuss with her glasses.

"Okay?" Lance shrugged and reached out a hand. "Shiro's been looking for you."

Pidge smirked as she took his wrist, allowing him to guide her through the halls. "I haven't been gone long enough for search parties."

"No, just me. And Shiro was wanting to run through some training exercises."

"That's all he thinks about, huh?"

"He wants to make sure that we're always prepared," Lance said, though his tone indicated that he agreed with Pidge.

" _Prepared, huh?"_ Pidge thought to herself. " _What would happen if the Galra attacked right now, I wonder. Training with the others is one thing, but a real attack…"_ Pidge's breath caught as another thought occurred to her.

"You okay?" Lance asked.

"Hm? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Pidge said quietly. "I just thought of something I have to do after training."

* * *

After an hour of training that Shiro could call successful -Pidge and Keith were becoming an unstoppable team- he dismissed everyone.

Pidge immediately took off, telling everyone she was busy, so don't bother her. Lance and Hunk headed to the lounge, where they thought they would find Coran. Keith almost stayed to continue training, but Shiro dragged him along to the bridge to speak with Allura.

"Any signs of the Galra?" Shiro asked as he and Keith entered.

Allura turned from the console. "None, like the last movement has been."

Coran looked up from where he was actually beside Allura. "Can't say I'm surprised, though. There's no innocent planets around here for them to terrorize."

Lance and Hunk came onto the bridge, Lance saying, "We didn't see Coran in- oh, hey, Coran."

Coran waved distractedly as he headed to his console. He pressed on a few buttons, then a holographic map of space appeared in the bridge. He pointed to a blinking blue light in a large empty space.

"We're here, in the Cenich System. Next to no planets to speak of. However, just a quick wormhole away, are some secluded Galran posts."

"Maybe it was about time Voltron got back in the game," Shiro said. "What do you think, Princess? ...Allura?"

Everyone turned to Allura, whose gaze was distant and troubled.

"Princess, what is wrong?" Coran asked. He went up to Allura and touched her arm, causing her to jump.

"Yes, what is it?" Allura asked.

"What did you think of what Shiro said?" Coran asked.

Allura blinked and looked at Shiro. "I'm sorry. I was not listening."

"I was saying that…" Shiro trailed off when he realized that Allura had become distracted once again. "What is wrong?"

Allura blinked again, her expression turning distressed. "It's Pidge. I think she accidentally activated her intercom."

"What is she saying?" Keith asked, stepping forward.

"She… It's…" Allura shook her head. "It would be better if I put her on the speakers."

Everyone waited, then the sound of sniffing filled the room. They listened in confusion that quickly turned to panic when a choked sob was heard.

"She's crying? Where's she at?" Shiro asked.

Allura bit her lip as the sound of Pidge's crying went on. "The Green Lion."

Keith frowned. "What's she doing there?"

"I think the better question is, how often has she gone to the Green Lion to cry," Hunk put in. He hesitantly added, "Alone."

Lance threw his hands in the air. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get her."

The others nodded and started to follow, then froze as Pidge whispered, apparently to Green.

"How am I supposed to pilot you, if I can't see anything? They can't make Voltron without the Green Lion, but what about when that pilot's blind?" The last word held bitterness.

"Come on," Keith said tersely.

"Wait," Shiro said, making the others pause. "I don't think Pidge just needs company now."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "What else would she need?"

Shiro walked past everyone, saying over his shoulder, "Suit up, paladins. I have an idea."


	6. Through a Lion's Eyes

Pidge hunched over in the pilot seat, trying to control her ragged breathing. She reached out to clench Green's controls, the empty space of the view port seeming to mock her. She could see everything in the cockpit, but beyond that… nothing. She clenched her eyes, feeling tears leak past the goggles and down her face.

"Why?" Pidge muttered through clenched teeth. "Why? Why? _Why?!_ "

Her voice rose with every repeat, until she stood on the final scream. She ripped the EVOR from her face and threw it across the cockpit. It clattered in the darkness.

"I'm a paladin of Voltron," Pidge said shakily, staring with blind eyes from Green's port. "I have to find my family. I have to protect the universe. I have..." She crumpled back into the seat.

"You have to get a grip."

Pidge jolted up, swiping at the tears wetting her cheeks. "Sh-Shiro? Where are you?" It sounded like his voice was coming from Green's console, and Pidge was afraid he could see what a mess she currently was.

"I'm in Black, and outside with the others. Allura landed the Castle on an uninhabited planet."

"Oh-kay." Pidge cleared her throat in a hopeless attempt to sound normal. "What are you doing?"

"We're waiting for you to join us," Keith answered.

Pidge choked out a laugh. "How long have you been listening to me?"

"Long enough," Lance said. "Believe it or not, you can fly Green."

Now Pidge was hoping Lance could see her unimpressed glare. "How?"

"Remember that first training exercise that Coran put us through to help us bond with our lions?" Hunk asked.

"You mean when he blacked out our visors? Yeah, you panicked, and Lance, Keith, and I crashed," Pidge dead-panned.

"We've come a long way since then," Shiro now said. "It's time we tried it again."

"Wait, what?!"

Pidge scrambled to stand, only for Green to jolt as Black grabbed Green, which caused her to fall back. Black hauled the smaller lion into open air, where she joined the others in flying straight up until the Castle was a distant speck.

"This is crazy, Shiro!" Pidge protested.

"Pidge," Shiro said calmly as his and the other paladins' visors blackened, essentially blinding them. "Are you sitting down?"

Pidge paused from starting to stand. "Er, yes."

"Good."

Black released Green, then dropped into a dive as Green began to free-fall. Through Black's eyes, Shiro watched the other three lions join the dive.

"You can do it!" Shiro said to the others "Just focus on your lions!"

Hunk was screaming already. Pidge was shouting that this was an awful, _awful_ idea. Keith and Lance were quiet.

After a moment, Red lifted her head to look at Black. She eased up beside Green across from Black, holding out her paws protectively toward the plummeting lion.

"Good job, Keith," Shiro praised.

"Hey, no way is Mullet beating me!" Lance growled.

But Yellow was the next to join Black and Red. Hunk stopped screaming, and "oh"ed in awe. Lance clammed up, and Blue soon joined the square of lions that had formed around Green.

Shiro nervously eyed the rapidly approaching ground. "Anytime, Pidge."

"I… I can't do this!"

Pidge finally grabbed the controls and jerked back, throwing Green into an out-of-control spiral. She missed a stone column by inches, only by chance, though.

"Pidge, focus!" Shiro said sharply. "Your lion knows her surroundings, just trust Green to be your eyes."

Pidge panted without responding. She pulled up on the controls, flying Green straight towards open space.

The other lions stopped and turned towards Green, the pilots yelling, "Pidge!"

Pidge grunted and hunched forward in her seat, hands tightening on the controls. She was stuck in an out of control lion, in unfamiliar surroundings.

Next time Coran suggested a training exercise that included likely death, she was demanding he did the exercise first.

But, she needed to do this. Shiro said he believed in her. The others had to have as well, if they had gone along with Shiro's plan. More than that, they were depending on her to do this.

Her family was depending on her.

Pidge closed her eyes, ignoring the others' increasing panicked tones.

"You guys got me into this mess," Pidge muttered. "And Green's gonna get me out."

Suddenly, new images flooded Pidge's mind. It was still black-and-white like the EVOR, but unlike with the EVOR, these were clearer and didn't blur with motion.

She was seeing through Green's eyes.

A large mass that was an astroid was looming before Green. Pidge quickly turned Green, then fell into a complicated dodge and weave to clear out of the astroid field she had flown into. Once clear, Pidge pulled Green into a stop, turning her to face the other lions as they approached.

"You did it!" Lance cheered.

* * *

 **A/N: This short chapter will be kicking off a brief hiatus for "Don't see you." I have a long-ish one-chapter story in my head that I would like to post before season five comes out (which I've heard will be very soon). It will be called "Quest for Freedom," and will either have you in tears or screaming "how dare you!" at me... as long as it turns out the way I hope it will.**

 **Until the next chapter, GriffTalon out.**


	7. (Not)In Plain Sight

**A/N: It's me! Time to get this story rolling again! (Still having a hard time keeping a thousand word minimum, but here goes.)**

 **You may notice a few missing chapters. _I Don't See You_ didn't originally have the goofy side chapters, and they were kind of pulling from the main storyline. They will be posted! Just in a separate story of one-shots called _Misadventures of a Blind Pidge._ The two chapters previously in this story will start it off, and I will post it later today. **

* * *

It wasn't easy to tinker when you're blind, but Pidge had learned how to do a lot of things in the last six months.

With advancements she, Hunk, and Coran had puzzled out, the EVOR's effectiveness had only increased. While the images weren't nearly as clear as when she flew Green, Pidge could "see" well enough to make out the bits and pieces of tech. Using her fingers, she was able to figure out the smaller details.

Currently, Pidge was up to her shoulders into her console on the bridge. She was trying to figure out if there was some way to allow her to "see" the holograms that the team so often used for maps and briefings. She was so busy tracing wires with her fingers, that she failed to notice footsteps approaching.

"Pidge?" came Shiro's voice.

Pidge yelped in surprise. She jerked upright, accidentally hitting her head on the way out. She rubbed her head and glared.

"Sorry," Shiro said, thought Pidge could hear the smile behind the apology. "Can I talk to you?"

"I'm all ears," Pidge said, starting to lean back over the console.

Shiro's hand gripped her shoulder, halting her. Pidge cocked her head at him while he took a deep breath.

"How are you feeling about facing the Galra again?" Shiro asked.

Pidge's eyes opened behind the EVOR in shock. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Voltron's been out of action for too long." Shiro hesitated. "I understand if you didn't want to."

"Of course I want to!" Pidge said excitedly. Shiro didn't respond, so she went on, "I can't hide from the Galra forever, Shiro. I'm learning to work with my blindness. I can hold my own in a fight, you know that."

"I know…" Shiro sighed. "I just don't want to put you in unnecessary danger."

Pidge smirked. "The only way to keep me out of danger, was to send me back to Earth. Which, by the way, is a terrible idea. Don't even try it. Besides, you need me to fly Green. She'll take care of me."

Shiro chuckled slightly. Pidge grinned at him, knowing she had won the argument. She sat back, settling into her chair.

"Now, why the question now? Are we coming up to a Galra base?" Pidge asked.

"We are indeed!"

Pidge jumped at Coran's voice. Out of the whole team, Coran seemed the most absent-minded about Pidge's blindness. While the others made sure their presence was known in some way if Pidge was distracted -a cough, a greeting- Coran never did. He was the hardest person to keep track of, especially since his constantly changing manner of walking meant his footsteps weren't as easily defined as the others'.

"Since Voltron has been out of action, the Galra are starting to plant small bases on multiple planets at a rapid rate," Coran said, oblivious to the scare he had given Pidge.

Pidge grimaced. "Great."

"They can't know about your accident," Shiro said. "They probably assume we disappeared to plan for something big, and are trying to flush us out."

Pidge snickered. "Well, we'd better not keep them waiting, then."

* * *

"Are you ready for this, Pidge?"

Pidge leaned forward in her seat, too excited for the first mission in months to be annoyed by Hunk's question. Through Green's eyes, she watched the other lions' stealthy approach to the new planet.

"I can't wait," Pidge said gleefully.

The other lions stopped, hidden by the planet's moon. Green, without slowing, cloaked and flew closer. Much as Shiro disliked it, the team only had one cloaking lion to investigate.

"Be careful," Shiro warned.

"We'll be fine," Pidge said, cocking her head back.

Standing behind the pilot seat was Keith, as back-up. Since the pair had worked so closely during Pidge's training, Keith had strict orders to keep Pidge in his sight at all times. Pidge helpfully joked to do the same with Keith.

"We're just gathering intel," Keith assured Shiro. "We'll be quick and not get spotted."

"Yeah, because 'Keith' and 'stealth' always go together," Lance said sarcastically.

Keith didn't give a response, probably since that was pretty true for the red paladin. In the opposite sense, of course.

No more comment was made as Green approached the planet. She circled the small base several time, her scanners mapping out the location of multiple sentries.

"Not too many," Pidge reported as the results automatically read out in her ear. "Could just be a communications or supply outpost. No, wait."

Green rose further into the air. The planet had a somewhat thick forest, and Green was detecting a faint trail leading away from the outpost. Curious, Pidge prompted Green to follow. All of the sudden, the trail stopped.

"Pidge?" Keith asked, unable to see the same path the was visible only to Green and, thus, Pidge.

"There's something down there," Pidge mused, circling Green for another look. "Unless the Galra make paths into the center of the forest for no reason."

Green flew lower to the ground, drawing a grunt from Keith. "Not too close. The Galra might not see us, but the back-wash from the thrusters could disturb the plant life."

Pidge sighed in frustration and pulled back, but Green rumbled and stilled. Her eyes focused on the ground, as if attempting to show Pidge something.

Pidge leaned forward and squinted, as if that made any difference in her lion-eye sight. She studied the ground, the way the path just ended. While she was watching, a sentry appeared out of nowhere where the path apparently ended.

Pidge yelped and jolted back. "There is something there!"

"Are you sure?" Keith asked, leaning forward.

"Yes. I sentry just appeared out of nowhere," Pidge said, watching the "forest" more carefully now. "I think I am seeing little flashes of movement in the same area."

"What is it?" Shiro asked.

"Some kind of cloaking, I bet," Pidge said.

"Why would the Galra bother cloaking a tiny outpost?" Hunk asked.

"I think there is more to this planet than an outpost," Allura said.

"Back to the Castle, you two," Shiro said. "We'll regroup, then we all will take Green down to the surface."

"Can't Keith and I check it out?" Pidge pleaded.

"No," Shiro said firmly. "We don't know what's down there."

"Okay," Pidge said with a sigh.

Casting one last glance at the ground, Pidge turned Green to make her way back to the Castle.

* * *

 **A/N: I don't know if "back-wash of the thrusters" is actually a thing? But, it sounds good, so I just rolled with it.**


	8. Going in Blind

After a brief regroup, all the paladins boarded Green. Pidge flew them down to the surface, landing Green in a small clearing not far from where the path "ended." From there, the group set out on foot, following just out of sight of the path to where Pidge had noticed the sentry appear.

"I'm not seeing anything," Hunk said after several minutes of silent observation. "Is-is anyone else? Or is it just me? Because I don't see it."

"It's not just you," Lance said before Hunk could continue.

"Pidge, are you sure of what you…" Shiro trailed off.

"I know what Green and I saw," Pidge insisted.

It was odd, Pidge had to admit. Not even the EVOR was picking up anything. At all. Beyond the trees around them, there was a big blank spot in her mind, like the cloaking device was stopping the EVOR's signals.

Pidge was tempted to remove her helmet -with the visor fully retracted, the helmet just barely had room for the EVOR to remain in place- to see if that would help, but knew Shiro would protest.

Instead, she ground her feet in the too-soft ground. The dirt was so loose and some sort of mossy foliage grew underfoot, muffling all sounds.

"I'm going to check it out," Keith finally said.

No one protested, so Shiro must have given his silent approval. Keith broke away from the others, approaching the path at an angle. He paused where the path seemed to end, then stepped forward.

And vanished.

Shiro and Lance made startled sounds, and Pidge had to clap a hand over her mouth from shouting.

Before anyone could be properly shocked, though, Keith burst back into view. His shield was up and his sword out, the sound of his grunts mostly hidden by short, sharp explosions.

" _Gun blasts,"_ Pidge realized.

While Shiro, Lance, and Hunk leaped up to help Keith, Pidge froze. She hadn't thought this far into a mission. How could she avoid laser blasts that she couldn't see and enemies who would be moving too quickly for the EVOR to properly follow?

"Pidge."

Pidge jumped. Distracted in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Keith come back to her side. Shiro, Lance, and Hunk were out of sight, though she could hear the sound of fighting.

"It's just like training," Keith assured her. "Stay down and follow me, and I'll get us close enough."

Pidge summoned her bayard and shield. She realized that she was putting more trust into Keith that she probably ever had with anyone.

"Let's go."

Keeping her head ducked mostly behind her shield, Pidge followed at a crouched run. The pair ran up the path, and into the cloaked area.

In a blink, blank spot was filled. In its place was a long, short building surrounded by a large courtyard. In the clearing were huge crates. Sentries were lined up alongside the edge of the building.

Keith led the way to where the rest of the team stood behind a crate. Pidge felt her shield arm rock with the impact of a blast just before she ducked behind safety.

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked her.

Pidge nodded. The adrenaline of the fight was dulling her previous fears. "I'll be fine."

"I don't get it," Hunk said. "This just looks like more supplies. Why bother with such advanced cloaking?"

Lance, who had been giving the team cover, ducked back briefly. "There's some writing on the side of the crate."

"Which side?" Pidge asked.

Lance pointed to the opposite side of the crate before going back to giving cover. Pidge followed his finger and felt around the smooth metal until she found the barely noticeable label stuck to the surface.

"Give me just a tick," Pidge said.

Pidge removed her helmet, then the EVOR. Her eyes remained closed, mostly out of habit by now. Everything turned to the plain black of blindness, though the EVOR seemed to have left almost a glow behind. Shrugging it off, Pidge replaced her helmet and turned on the visor. After a few seconds, a slight beep alerted Pidge.

During a training exercise a few months before, Pidge's helmet had seemingly started speaking to her. After some confusion, it had been realized that the green paladin helmet was capable of recognizing, translating, and reading words to the paladin. None of the other helmets had this, leading Pidge to believe that the former green paladin had modified it.

As the robotic voice read a list of schematics back to her, Pidge realized what she -or, the others, at least- were looking at.

"They're ion cannons," Pidge said. "This must be a factory for them!"

"That explains the cloaking," Shiro said.

"Is anyone else worried that there might be more of these hidden factories we have missed?" Hunk fretted.

"There may be information inside," Pidge said. "If I can find a computer, I can hack into it and retrieve the information."

"Are you sure?" Shiro asked.

Pidge snorted. "Please, Shiro. You know I'm the hacker of the group. I could do it with my eyes closed."

Even Lance's gunshots fell silent at the comparison.

"Let me rephrase that-"

"No, no, I trust you," Shiro said with a laugh. "Keith, if we draw their fire out here, could the two of you get inside and to a computer?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Be careful, and leave if it gets too dangerous," Shiro said.

Pidge nodded along with Keith. She replaced her helmet, then she and Keith went to stand opposite of the other paladins.

"Let's go!" Shiro said.

Shiro, Lance, and Hunk burst out into the open, dashing for another crate. Pidge and Keith gave them a few seconds, then ran out.

Pidge held up her shield completely. This had the undesireable effect that the EVOR couldn't pick up anything from the direction of the sentries, so she focused on following closely behind Keith. Nothing struck her shield, reassuring her that she and Keith hadn't been seen.

Keith abruptly angled his body and halted. Pidge tried to halt as well, only managing to slow before she crashed full on into a wall. She stumbled back, dismissing the shield in favor of a steadying hand.

Keith grabbed her hand, prompting Pidge to look at him. He tapped his helmet. Pidge nodded; she was fine.

Without releasing Pidge's hand, Keith began moving along the wall. He paused beside something jutting out, and let go of her hand. While Keith fiddled with the door, Pidge glanced over her shoulder.

There were still a few sentries standing, but they were too occupied with the other three paladins to notice the pair less than a hundred feet away.

Keith made a slight sound. When Pidge turned back, he had the door open and was pointing inside. Pidge darted inside. A quick check found a large, open room that was luckily free of sentries.

Pidge turned to Keith and mouthed, " _Computer."_

Keith nodded and began to cautiously advance. Pidge followed, ears alert for any sound. But, she couldn't even hear the battle outside. All was silent.

Too silent.

Pidge grabbed Keith's hand and tugged, causing him to pause.

"What?" Keith asked under his breath.

Pidge opened her mouth to respond, when there was a barely audible _click_. Pidge threw herself to the ground on instinct, jerking Keith along with her, just as a laser blast shattered the silence.

"Are you okay?" Keith asked, scrambling to his knees a half-second later.

"Where are they?" Pidge asked frantically instead of responding. She could hear multiple shots now, but couldn't see any sentries.

Pidge felt Keith shove her head back down, then he stood. "Stay down."

"As if," Pidge retorted, standing.

The next moment, Keith was shoving her to the side. She stumbled, but kept her balance. She lifted her shield and looked at Keith.

"Fine," Keith said. "Just do what I tell you, okay?"

Pidge nodded eagerly.

"Good." Keith abruptly ducked, then stood. "Follow me!"

Keith broke into a run, and Pidge dashed after him. She held her shield up at her side, painfully aware of their vulnerability without their long-range fighters.

Something crashed and creaked, then Keith said, "DL!"

Pidge threw herself into a roll to the left, leaping back to her feet and off running again. A couple of sentries blurred into view ahead.

"I'll go R," Keith said.

Pidge nodded and formed her staff. Spotting a jumble of parts to the left, Pidge lunged onto the uncertain surface. She scurried up the pile and leaped up, slamming her staff down in front of her. Metal hit metal, and Pidge's staff jarred her arms. But as Pidge's feet thumped back to the ground, she was rewarded by the clang of the collapsing sentry.

"Door, straight ahead," Keith said, returning to her side.

Thanks to the warning, Pidge was able to come to a controlled stop before crashing. Keith wrestled with the door, then pulled it open.

"In!" Keith ordered, as a fresh round of blasts started up.

Pidge ducked under his arm, then the door clanged shut behind them. Keith grunted, and Pidge turned to see him smash the handle with the sword.

"That should slow them down," Keith said. "Shiro, we're inside, but they know we are here."

"What happened?" Shiro's question was punctuated with laser blasts.

"They ambushed us, but we got clear. We're locked in for now." Keith paused. "That might not have been a good idea."

Pidge cocked her head. "I don't hear anything." She pressed a hand against the door, and felt it vibrating. "Weird."

"The structure must absorb sound somehow," Hunk said. "Can't have noises coming from nothing, right?"

"Creepy," Lance said. "Like a haunted house, but without the house."

A brief silence fell.

Keith broke it with a blank, "What?"

"Keith, Pidge, find a way out, and get out of there," Shiro said. "We'll get the lions for this."

"Let's find a computer first," Pidge insisted.

"Pidge…"

"Fine," Pidge huffed. "Which way, Keith?"

"Forward?" Keith said slowly.

Pidge turned and saw an empty hallway. "Oh. Well, what are you waiting for?"

Pidge marched down the hallway. She kept an ear out for any sound, but the whole place was eerily silent. Her and Keith's footsteps echoed through the halls.

"There's a door."

Pidge jumped at Keith's voice. She turned to him with a hissing sound and a fierce "quiet" slash of her hand.

Keith shrugged, then pointed. There was something poking from the wall, and when Pidge felt it, she realized it was a door. She jerked it open, holding her staff at the ready, but promptly lowered it with an excited squeal.

Even with the EVOR's lack of detail, Pidge knew an engine room when she saw it. And with the engine room, was usually some place to hack into the system.

"We can't stop," Keith whispered.

"Give me five dobashes. I'll get any bases locations in the system, and rig the whole place to blow," Pidge countered.

"I don't-"

"Do it," Shiro said. "We're almost finished out here, and will clear the way out for you."

Pidge laughed -it was more of a cackle, really- in triumph.

"I'll make sure there aren't any more sentries out here," Keith said before heading further up the hall.

Pidge stepped into the engine room and glanced around. A thrumming engine and interconnecting pipes took up a good deal of space, but here was a promising-looking console against one wall. Pidge stepped toward it before noticing a shape beside the engine.

She whipped out her staff and pointed at the sentry-shaped figure. It didn't move, though, and she gradually lowered her weapon. It must have been a maintenance droid. They were harmless, as their sole duty was to keep the engines running. Pidge also knew they remained inactive unless damage was done to the engines. Well, she would be long gone when it ultimately came time to… "damage" the engines.

Ignoring the droid, Pidge went to stand at the console. Once again, she removed the EVOR from under her helmet, letting the helmet translate the words and keys in front of her. It took her only a minute to orient to the system and got busy typing.

In short order, she had information downloaded to her wrist computer to sort through later. Now all that remained was to find a way to get the whole base to self-detonate.

As distracted as she was, Pidge didn't even realize Keith was back until he started talking.

"There's no more doors leading outside," Keith said, sounding as if he was rounding the door. "But the others are on their way and- Pidge!"

"I'm almost done," Pidge said, typing in a few last keys.

"No, Pidge!" There was the slashing sound of Keith swiping up his blade. "Move!"

Pidge abruptly straightened and angled her body, hand going for her bayard she had left on the console. "Let me guess. There's a Galra behind me."

"Actually," said a growling voice most definitely _not_ coming from behind, "He's right in front of you."

* * *

 **A/N: Yes! The last two lines are from a prompt that I found a while ago, and have been searching for a use.**

 **In case anyone is wondering, Pidge discovering her helmet's translating ability will be included in _Misadventures of a Blind Pidge._**


	9. Don't Blink (You Might Miss It)

**A/N: Better wrap this story up soon, I'm running out of chapter names...**

* * *

Pidge lunged for her bayard, only to have her wrist snatched in a painful grip. Keith let out a yell, then the hold on her was abruptly released.

Pidge scrambled away from the sounds of fighting, feeling horribly useless. She grabbed her bayard and formed the staff, but didn't know where to swing.

"Pidge! Straight out, now!"

Blind but trusting, Pidge swung up her staff and drove it out in front of her. It struck something, then there was a harsh exhale and thud.

"Good! Come on!"

Keith's feet clattered up to her. He grabbed her arm and broke into a run. Pidge stumbled as she followed in the uncertain ground.

Not long after, Keith jerked Pidge around a corner and let go of her. The next moment, something shoved into her hand.

"Put this back on."

Pidge gratefully replaced the EVOR. She could now see that she and Keith were at an intersection of the hallway. There wasn't sight or sound of Galra.

"How many were there?" Pidge asked, assuming that it was safe to talk since Keith had.

"Only one, unless he gets the sentries through the door."

Pidge and Keith stared at each other, then Pidge activated her com.

"We have a problem."

Gunshots cut off Pidge. She ducked out of instinct, then lifted her head to see sentries rounding the corner.

"Oh, great," Pidge muttered as Keith pulled them back into a run.

"Pidge!" Shiro said. "What happened?"

Keith pulled Pidge into another hall as he responded, "The sentries and a soldier found us. We're running out of room to hide."

"We have another problem," Pidge added hesitantly. "I rigged the engine to blow in ten dobashes."

"Then turn it off!" Keith said.

Pidge scowled. "Does it look like I had time to make a remote detonator?"

"We're inside now," Shiro said, somehow still calm. "Once we finish off the last few sentries in here, we'll find you."

"We'll meet you halfway," Keith said, taking Pidge's arm and easing around the corner as footsteps approached.

"No, stay where you are. Just keep hiding."

"Yeah, about that…" Keith trailed off, so Pidge turned to see the empty wall of the hall. "We're out of places to run."

Shiro thought for a moment. "Hold them off if you must, but don't do anything crazy."

"Keith, crazy?" Lance said sarcastically.

Keith didn't bother answering. He only pointed in the direction of the sentries' approach, then to Pidge and mimed swinging at the ground. He pointed to himself, and did the same motion at head level.

 _You go low, and I'll go high._

Pidge nodded in confirmation and lifted her staff. She sidled over to the corner, listening. The sentries reached an intersection and split up, with three coming toward her and Keith. She held up three fingers to Keith. He nodded and stood against the wall beside Pidge.

When the sentries were right at the corner, Pidge dropped to her knees and swung the staff as hard as she could manage. She was rewarded by a sharp impact and the sound of crumpling metal. Keith lunged above her, and Pidge heard the explosion of sparks from two sentries, then the whole patrol crashed to the ground.

"They'll have heard that," Keith said, helping Pidge stand.

"So let's not wait!"

Pidge ran down the hall, with Keith right behind. Two more sets of metallic footsteps clomped toward the intersection ahead, and Pidge realized they would reach the intersection at the same time.

Without taking the time to warn Keith, Pidge ducked her head and threw herself forward. She collided with the first sentry. She only managed to knock her own breath away, as the sentry barely stumbled. But then, there was a hard smash and the sentry collapsed. As Pidge leaped back, she saw it was now in two pieces. Without missing a beat, Pidge swung up her staff, crushing the other sentry's gun arm, then Keith finished it off.

Pidge was turning to continue running, when a blurred shaped rushed at them. Pidge shouted in warning, then she was knocked over. She fell on her back and kicked out at the shape, but didn't feel her feet hit anything. Keith gave a startled shout, and Pidge twisted onto her stomach to see.

Keith was wrestling with something or someone. He pulled back a fist and swung, resulting in a pained grunt. It was the Galra from the engine room.

Pidge leaped to her feet as the Galra stumbled back. She grabbed for his hand that she thought was holding the gun, only to have something smash into her face.

Pidge fell back to the ground, her vision going completely blank. Panicked, she reached up and found the EVOR's sensor hanging by a couple of wires.

Luckily, Keith had noticed already. "RR!"

Pidge rolled to the right, just before there was a crash a foot from her head. She lunged for the sound, hands closing on nothing.

"Staff up!"

Pidge snapped her staff toward the ceiling, and felt it hit something. The Galra gave a yell, then Keith's scrambling was accompanied by a yelp.

"Counter-"

Keith's voice was abruptly silenced, followed by a thud. Pidge, though, had figured out the Galra's location.

Pidge lunged and crashed into a solid shape. Whoever the Galra was, he wasn't big enough to simply fall, though. Pidge dropped to the ground, grabbing for legs, and jerked backwards. The Galra hit the ground with a crash.

"Keith, where are you?!" Pidge said, scrambling backwards.

Pidge got no response, aside from the sound of the Galra getting back to his feet. Pidge darted to the side, hands reaching out for the wall.

She found the wall and tripped over something at the same time. The thing groaned, causing Pidge to realize it was Keith. She dropped to a crouch and spun around, holding her staff in front of her.

"Pidge?" Keith groaned, then shouted, "Look out!"

Pidge swung her staff, but it was halted. She tugged, but couldn't free it. Before she could figure out another plan, a fist punched her across the face.

The EVOR and helmet flew off as Pidge was sent tumbling backward. She tripped over Keith and fell on her back, eyes snapping open at the impact.

Keith was half-crouched -obviously unsteady- with his sword held out in front of him and one hand held protectively in front of Pidge.

The Galra only laughed and swatted Keith's sword away with ease. Keith yelped and leaned as if to reach for the blade, but then the Galra lifted the butt of his gun and cruelly hit Keith on the side of the head. Keith toppled backwards without a sound.

Pidge gritted her teeth and clenched her staff, which she had managed to keep a grip on. The staff transformed into her familiar energy whip, and she snapped the weapon in front of her.

The Galra's face barely had a chance to register shock before Pidge launched the whip. It struck him in the chest, knocking him back with a shock of electricity strong enough to knock him to the floor.

While the Galra was dazed, Pidge turned back to Keith. Then froze when she realized what had just happened.

Pidge lifted a hand in front of her face and blinked. It didn't disappear. It was a bit fuzzy, but she was actually seeing again!

She nearly shouted in celebration, then her eyes caught the countdown displayed on her wrist. One minute to detonation!

Pidge snatched up her helmet and replaced it. As she leaned down to grab Keith, she realized that the others were shouting for them.

"I'm here," Pidge said, looping her arms under Keith's shoulders.

"Oh, Pidge," Shiro sighed in relief. "We got the door open and we're headed your way."

"No, get out!" Pidge groaned as she started hauling Keith backward. "This whole place is going down in less than one dobosh!"

"Where are you?" Shiro asked, and Pidge doubted he was heading outside.

"Turn left at the first intersection, then straight ahead," Pidge instructed. She huffed, barely able to budge Keith.

"What's wrong?" Hunk demanded. "And why hasn't Keith said anything?"

"He's unconscious."

"Found them!" came a call from behind.

Pidge turned and saw a blue blob that had to be Lance down the hall. He waved and ran forward. Two more blobs that were Shiro and Hunk -the former's darker armor a bit difficult to discern from the grey walls- appeared and followed.

"I've got him," Shiro said, going straight to Keith and taking him from Pidge's hands. "Lance, you help Pidge."

"I wasn't hurt," Pidge said, shrugging away from Lance's hands.

"Yes, but time is of the essence."

Pidge's eyes widened as she looked back at the countdown. "Right. Twenty ticks. Run!"

"What-" Lance yelped as Pidge darted away.

Pidge checked over her shoulder. The Galra had disappeared, probably to another door outside. Shiro had Keith over one shoulder, and was managing a quick jog. Hunk was close behind, hands out to steady Keith. Lance took a few seconds to move, before running up even with Pidge.

"How are you seeing?" Lance demanded as they burst into the main room.

"With my eyes," Pidge returned. She looked down. "Ten ticks!"

Pidge and Lance ran side-by-side through the factory, pausing for a precious second at the door to make sure the others were keeping up.

"Go!" Shiro yelled, right behind them.

The paladins rushed outside. Pidge checked the countdown as they dodged the containers and reached open ground.

"Two ticks! One- get down!"

The paladins threw themselves to the ground. Something crashed behind them, then an explosion rent the air.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry-not-sorry. Had to do that to you. -pleased grin- The next chapter will probably be the last one, with a semi-feasible excuse for Pidge's sight returning. I'm no eye doctor, so bear with me.**


	10. Blurred

**A/N: Continuing with a mild headcannon of mine for Keith in this chapter, one that won't fully be explained for some time... hehe**

* * *

"Paladins! What happened? Is everyone alright?" Coran called over the coms.

Pidge hesitantly removed her arms from where she had wrapped them over her head, and looked around.

Lance was in a similar position beside her, and Hunk was hunched over behind them. Shiro was a little off to the side, crouched protectively over Keith's prone form. Then, standing over them all, was Green, with one paw and her head between the paladins and the explosion.

While Pidge and the others ventured to sit up -Shiro calling Coran to assure him everyone was fine- Green lifted her head and moved her paw.

"Wow," Lance said, wide-eyed.

All that remained where there had originally been a building was a huge, blackened crater. The storage containers had been tossed away into the forest, and the blast had flattened many of the nearby trees. Behind Green's protection was a large section of wall and half a container.

"That's it. Easy."

Shiro's murmur pulled Pidge's attention away from the destruction. Keith was slowly sitting up, holding one hand to his head and staring around in confusion.

"Wha' happened?" Keith mumbled.

Hunk gestured vaguely. "The building blew up. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Keith stood up slowly, waving off Shiro's attempts to help. He wobbled, but still tried to take a step. Predictably, his legs gave out.

"Easy!" Shiro said, hurriedly catching the boy. "You may have a concussion."

Lance gripped his rifle and scanned the demolished woods. "Is anyone else wondering about the Galra at the other base? We should get out of here."

"Good idea." Shiro helped Keith toward Green, ignoring Keith's protests. "Green can take out the other base on our way back."

"Sounds good. I have all the data we need right here," Pidge said, raising her wrist.

Shiro halted and turned back to Pidge with a frown. "Wait. You didn't take Lance's help, and you ran out here just fine."

Pidge smirked, amused at how long it had taken that fact to sink in. Hunk's eyes grew comically wide as he came to the same realization, and Lance was watching her with that same "what in the world?" expression as when she had told the team about being a girl.

"When Keith and I were fighting the Galra, the EVOR was knocked off. I opened my eyes, and…." Pidge lifted a hand to shrug. "I don't know how it happened."

Shiro stared at Pidge for a moment. His gaze didn't waver, even when he reached out to grab a wobbly Keith's shoulder when he tried to walk away.

"We'll figure this out at the Castle," Shiro decided.

"Good idea," Pidge agreed.

Pidge and the others ran into Green, and Pidge took off. They took a moment to destroy the first base -after scans found it to be in actuality an empty building- then flew on to the Castle.

* * *

"If you don't take that light out of my eye, I will go blind again," Pidge said drily, struggling to not blink while Hunk peered at her eyes with a tiny light.

"Sorry." Hunk lowered the light. "I don't see anything off in your eyes. The pupils are reacting to light again. It makes no sense."

"Could it be because my eyes weren't exposed to light for so long?" Pidge suggested. "I haven't opened my eyes in almost five months, except for when I was wearing the EVOR."

Hunk shrugged and set the light aside. He stepped back, finally allowing Pidge to slide off the examination table.

"If it was a matter of healing, why wouldn't the cryo-pods have done anything?" Hunk mused.

"It's like I said before," Coran put in while stroking his mustache. "Alteans never had to deal with eye injuries. The cryo-pods can't cure something that, as far as the creators were concerned- didn't exist."

"All I know is, my eyes work. Kinda blurry, but they do. I'm more worried about him," Pidge said, jutting a thumb over her shoulder.

The "him" in question was Keith. He was seated on a table across the infirmary, bearing a stubborn frown as Shiro, Lance, and Allura tried without success to get him into a pod.

Pidge headed over with Hunk and Coran in time to hear Lance threaten to find some cymbals to bang next his ears if he didn't get into the pod.

"That would only make it worse," Keith said. He turned to Shiro, but the older paladin merely watched him with a raised eyebrow. "You wouldn't let him do it, would you?"

"I'm tempted," Shiro said, but smiled as he said it. "Keith, you have a concussion. The cryo-pod will have you back to normal soon enough."

"'Normal' might be a stretch," Lance said.

Keith scowled and tried to stand, but his legs gave out and he fell back. He settled on saying, "I've hit my head a lot harder than that before. Just give me a dobosh."

"You said that…" Allura paused in thought, "Fifty doboshes ago."

"Come on, we've all had our time in the pod. It's your turn," Lance said.

"It would just be for a few vargas," Shiro said, putting hand on Keith's shoulder.

Keith scowled at his hands, but gave a nod. He didn't give any resistance when Shiro helped him stand, and let himself be led to a cryo-pod. Shiro helped him inside, then Allura closed it. Keith's tense frame relaxed as he fell into the healing sleep.

"I'll stay with him," Shiro said, sitting beside the pod.

"I'll scan the surrounding area for more Galra," Allura said. "It would be best if we left here as well. I'll see to it."

Pidge dug out a memory chip from her pocket and handed it to Hunk. "Want to analyze the data I found at the base?"

"Sure. But what are you going to do?"

Pidge beamed up at him. "I haven't seen anything in this castle for six phoebs. I'm going to look at each and every thing in here."

The others laughed at Pidge's words as she dashed from the room. She grinned and shook her head a little. Maybe she had exaggerated with the "every thing," but there was one thing that she definitely needed to see.

Pidge reached her room and came to a panting halt. She squinted and made her way inside. She had once known where everything was, but her blindness had forced her to make her room somewhat more organized. Now, with her eyes open, Pidge realized that she couldn't quite figure out the location of the object she was looking for.

It didn't help that everything was still a bit fuzzy. During Hunk's examination, he had determined that whatever had caused her blindness would probably never fully heal. The result was her blurry vision that she would have to get used to.

Finally, after a bit of haphazard searching, Pidge's hand located the book sitting on the bottom shelf in her room. She pulled out her old journal, flipping through the pages of sketches, thoughts, and math homework, until she found a picture.

Pidge held the picture close to her face to get the clearest view. Regardless, the picture still blurred. Pidge wiped her eyes and told herself it was just her imperfect vision.

The picture was of her family, from the day before the Kerberos mission. Pidge trained her eyes on her brother's and father's face.

Once, she had thought that, even when she found them, she wouldn't be able to actually see them again. Now, Pidge stared long and hard at her family so that, no matter what happened, she would always remember their faces.

* * *

 **A/N: Watch for the short epilogue to follow.**


	11. Epilogue

**A/N: Dedicated to my best reader, Gravtron1, and Astrispecto, the only one who asked.**

* * *

 _Two days later…_

"Ugh, where is it?!"

Pidge threw down the shirt she was holding in disgust. She gazed around her messy room, eyes narrowing. Without hesitation, she dropped onto her stomach and squirmed under her bed.

Her searching hands found a missing glove, a spare computer cord (that lacked an outlet), three mismatching socks, and an electronic device with its electrical guts exposed.

Pidge swiped all the objects away, out from under the bed. She kicked her feet in frustration, feeling them brush something. She ignore it, squinting in the dim light for anything else under the bed. Something touched the bottom of her foot, and she twitched it away. The action persisted, turning into flat out tickling. Pidge squeaked and kicked out, only to have her foot grabbed and the tickling began anew.

"Quit!" Pidge squealed. Laughter gave away her tormenter. "Lance!"

Pidge twisted so she could grab the edge of the bed. She jerked herself forward, freeing her foot at the same time. She quickly made sure her feet were out of reach, and glared at the two boys standing over her.

The first was Lance, unsurprisingly. Pidge was slightly more surprised to see Hunk there as well.

"What do you want?" Pidge said, crossing her arms.

"Why are you under the bed?" Lance asked instead.

"If you must know," Pidge said with a sigh. "I misplaced Matt's glasses."

Lance raised an eyebrow, slowly looking around at the chaos of the room. "Are you really that surprised?"

"It wasn't that bad when I started," Pidge huffed. "But I was sure I left them on my desk. So, unless Zarkon is attacking or you know where the glasses are, there's the door."

"Actually…" Hunk trailed off.

Pidge's eyes widened. "He _is_ attacking?! Why didn't you say so?!"

"No, no," Hunk said, holding out a hand as Pidge started pulling herself free. "It's not that."

Pidge stopped, blinking up at Hunk. Now that she thought about it, he had a hand behind his back and that guilty expression on his face.

Pidge raised a hand. "Give it back." Hunk pulled out the missing glasses from behind his back and put them into her hand. Pidge put them on as she continued, "And honestly, Hunk. I expect that sort of thing from Lance, but you-" Pidge fell silent with a sharp gasp.

Everything was clear. No longer were the edges of objects fuzzy, and she could read the titles of the books across the room. Pidge could now make out the details of Lance and Hunk's faces.

"D-did they work? I ran some tests the other day, you know, and Lance has this weird amount of knowledge of glasses prescriptions, and Coran was actually really helpful about making the lenses, though he did compare it to making scaultrite lenses, so you may need to be careful around sunlight as there is a slight, _slight_ possibility of your eyes burning."

Pidge barely noticed Hunk's rambling. The eyes burning caught her attention, but only briefly.

"Hunk," Pidge said, scrambling to her feet. "I can see clearly. You're a genius!"

"It's nothing, I- _oof!_ " Hunk's statement was cut off with a grunt when Pidge threw herself at him for a hug.

"This is amazing!" Pidge said, lifting her head to beam at Hunk.

"Hey, what about me?" Lance pouted, holding his hands out. "I helped, too."

And, because Pidge was too ecstatic to be sarcastic, she released Hunk and grabbed Lance in a hug. The taller boy grunted, probably not expecting Pidge to take him seriously.

"You're both amazing," Pidge said, not caring that the glasses were squished against her nose. "This is the best!"

Pidge touched the glasses with one hand. They had once been her brother's, given to her to remember him while he was gone. How fitting that they would help her find him once again.

* * *

 **A/N: -cough- corny -cough- Anyway, this story is done, but Pidge's adventures will continue in _Misadventures of a Blind Pidge._**


End file.
